Listen to: Moaning

If you’ve ever seen a punk, garage rock, noise, or post-punk show in Los Angeles, you’ve likely been to the iconic and hidden venue, The Smell. It’s the place where many abrasive and heavy bands play at the beginning of their touring and music-making journey. The Los Angeles trio Moaning, comprised of Sean Solomon, Pascal Stevenson, and Andrew MacKelvie, is one of those bands born out of LA’s DIY music scene and raised in venues like The Smell and Pehrspace.

If you’re a person of passion, then you must not sleep onMoaning. Having fine-tuned their sound over the years, the trio was recently picked up by legendary label Sub Pop, with whom they will be releasing their self-titled debut record in March 2018. We’re certain the album will include all of the impulsive, pain meets pleasure style of tunes that we’ve not only come to love from the band, but that was born out of the members’ experiences with love and distress. On current songs like “The Same” and “Don’t Go,” we see how Moaning can so easily create a sound both dark and sincere. “Don’t Go” drowns itself in killer guitar riffs and extra loud drums leaving the track’s muttered vocals to sound depressive, yet somehow are surprisingly understandable and relatable. Both tracks boast introspective lyrics with powerful droning dance songs, which emphasize the band’s sleek tone.

Even the band name itself allows us to analyze the tone that they are trying to create; each song is fairly simple, yet every song name reveals the sense of angst you’ll find within them. I’m always keen on finding a trend and natural thematic flow throughout albums, so if you’re one of the same, then this crew of pessimists may thrill your post-punk habits. The band exudes a specific type of vulnerability, and a relentless ability to provide their audience with raw emotions that come deep from within their troubled minds. The Moaning gang not only grabs ahold of our need for substance but also strikes an authentic post-punk chord, with additional synths and layered formulas marked for uniqueness.

Moaning will be playing in Los Angeles at the Teragram Ballroom tonight, December 12th.